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Woman ‘molested’ on bridge in Mumbai as she lay dying after stampede Mumbai bridge stampede began when commuters tragically misheard cries of flower-seller, probe finds
(about 17 hours later)
A woman who lay dying on a bridge following a deadly stampede was allegedly molested by a passer-by as she reached out for help, according to reports. A police probe into the deadly stampede at a railway station in Mumbai, India, has found the incident began with a tragic misunderstanding.
At least 22 people died and 32 others were injured when a stampede broke out on a crowded pedestrian bridge between two railway stations in Mumbai on Friday morning. Witnesses have described how people became trapped in an enclosed pedestrian bridge over the tracks at the Elphinstone station last Friday morning.
The crush led some commuters to leap over the railing, while other were crushed or trampled underfoot during the deadly incident. Mumbai Police sources told the Indian Express the stampede and subsequent crush began and was over in less than 10 minutes, during which 23 people died and 39 were injured.
Video footage of the alleged assault saw her reach out for help before dropping her hand. She died on the bridge, The Hindu reported. Sudden torrential rain led passengers to wait under shelter at either end of the packed bridge, as more passengers arrived on the platform with the arrival of a new train every four minutes.
Government Railway Police commissioner Niket Kaushik told the newspaper that he would initiate an inquiry into the alleged assault. Quoting a senior official in the police probe, the Express reported that a flower seller whose stock was knocked over by the crowd shouting "phool gir gaya (flowers have fallen)".
“Many people stole purses and gold ornaments from women victims. This molestation video is really shameful. How can someone molest a girl fighting for life and asking for help? The culprits should be punished,” local resident Jayshree Kanade told the newspaper. "This was... mistakenly construed as 'pul gir gaya' (bridge has fallen). Around the same time a young girl slipped on the stairway, leading to a domino effect and the ensuing stampede." 
Mumbai police said on Tuesday the bystander who allegedly molested the woman had been trying to help her. The police probe has also looked into allegations, reported in Indian media after the emergence of mobile phone footage of the incident, that a woman was molested by a man as she lay dying in the stampede.
“The victim got stuck in between the railing of the bridge. The commuter tried to drag her out. He rested her body on his foot and was trying to pull her and grabbed her by the chest,” a senior official told The Indian Express. The Railway Police commissioner had described the "molestation video" as "shameful". But Mumbai Police now believe the man shown in the video had grabbed the woman to try and pull her free.
“His intention was to save her and not molest her,” he said. “The victim got stuck in between the railing of the bridge. The commuter tried to drag her out. He rested her body on his foot and was trying to pull her and grabbed her by the chest,” the Indian Express quoted an official as saying.
Police are investigating what caused the stampede. Gansham Patel, a Mumbai police official, said falling concrete had hit part of the bridge, leading people to believe it was collapsing and causing them to surge forwards. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Dadar Division) Sunil Deshmukh told The Hindu that a man seen in the video standing close to the incident had given a witness statement to police.
"There were too many people on the bridge, and the people were in hurry and wanted to move out," said Brijesh Upadhyay, one of the many caught in the crowd. "There was nobody helping, it was very suffocating, and we just wanted to get out of there — and fell on each other."  "[He said] the woman's upper body was protruding through the [bridge] railing and that the man in the video was supporting her with his thigh while trying to pull her out at the same time, and not molesting her. We also studied a longer version of the video, which corresponds with the witness’s statement."
As Mumbai police appealed to citizens to donate blood to help the injured, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his condolences to the families of those killed.  The stampede has led to calls for action from officials in Mumbai, which has just begun construction of India's first high-speed train to link the city with Ahmedabad. A common complaint has been that the money spent on the so-called Bullet Train would be better diverted towards the city's existing rail infrastructure. 
"Prayers with those who are injured," Mr Modi tweeted.  The Elphinstone station manager has said in a statement that he had raised concerns about the chaos on the bridge, but that the incident was over before officials could make their way through the crowd. The probe is expected to find there was no dereliction of duty on behalf of the railway officials.
Additional reporting by AP Update: This story has been updated to reflect the fact that police have investigated and since ruled out the allegations of molestation